Heat retrieving device



March 16, 1965 wA s 3,173,353

HEAT RETRIEVING DEVICE Filed May 7. 1962 M INVENTOR.

United States Patent ()fl" 3,173,353 HEAT RETRIEVING DEVICE Raymond H.Watkins, 36 Abbott Road, North Reading, Mass. Filed May 7, 1962, Ser.No. 192,963 2 Claims. (Cl. 98-29) This invention relates to heatcirculating apparatus and has for its principal objects to provide aportable device for maintaining a substantial uniform temperature in aheated space by retrieving heat which tends to stagnate at the top ofthe space and return it to the bottom where it is useful. Furtherobjects are to provide apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture,easy to move from one place to another, eflicient, and effective.

As herein illustrated, the device comprises a unit adapted to be placedon the floor and contains an air pump having an intake and dischargeport, the latter being arranged adjacent the floor. There is means forefiecting operation of the pump and a pipe connected at one end to theintake port and extending upwardly therefrom into the layer of hightemperature near the top of the space, through which hot air at the topis drawn downwardly into the unit and discharged through the dischargeport at the bottom close to the floor. A thermostat situated on thepipe, adjacent the top, is operable, by a temperature of predeterminedhigh level, to initiate operation of the pump and at a predeterminedlower level to terminate operation of the pump. Vanes at the dischargeopening, movable relative to the stream discharged therefrom, providefor distributing the retrieved air to any desired part of the room atany desired level.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a base within which the unit is placed foroperation, with the base resting on the floor and the upper end of thepipe adjacent the ceiling;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the unit to very much larger scale with thepipe sections omitted;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2, showing thelower portion of one of the pipe sections fitted to the intake opening;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the device; and

FIG. 5 is a wiring diagram of the control.

Referring to the drawings, the device is adapted to be used for thepurpose of retrieving heat which rises to the top of a room, returningit to the bottom and maintaining a constant circulation until asubstantially uniform temperature from bottom to top is established.Thus, the device may be placed in a space (FIG. 1) having a floor 12 andceiling 14, with its base 18 resting on the floor 12 and its pipe 16extending upwardly to near the ceiling. Preferably, so as to be out ofthe way, the device may be placed close to a wall or perhaps in a cornerof the room.

The base 18 (FIG. 3) is a hollow sheet metal box divided intermediateits top and bottom by a horizontal supporting wall 20 into an uppersection 21 and a lower section 23. The upper section contains in the topwall an intake opening 22 within which there is fixed an upstandingflange 24 of rectangular cross-section, as shown in FIG. 2. The section21 also contains a discharge opening 26 in one side adjacent the flooras shown in FIG. 4.

A pump 28 comprising a plurality of vertically disposed, spaced parallelblades 30 is fixed to a hub 32 for rotation about a vertical axis. Theblades and hub constitute a rotor which is fixed to the upper end of ashaft 34, the latter extending downwardly through the supporting wall 20to a driving motor M situated in the section 23. A manifold 36 surroundsthe rotor and has an inlet opening 38 concentric with the axis ofrotation of the rotor and with the inlet opening 22 in the base and aPatented Mar. 16, 1965 discharge opening 40 substantially tangential tothe sides of the rotor which is in registration with the dischargeopening 26 in the base.

Rotation of the rotor by means of the motor draws air into the inletopening 22 into the manifold36 and discharges it in the direction of thearrow through the outlet opening 26.

The hot air which tends to form in a layer at the top of the room isretrieved by this device by a pipe 16 connected at its lower end to theflange 24 surrounding the inlet opening, for example by a slip joint,and extending upwardly therefrom to near the top of the room so as to besituated in the zone Where the hot air is situated. The pipe 16 iscomprised of sections 42, 44, 46 and 48 and preferably the sections aretelescopically arranged, one within another, so that the overall heightof the pipe may be easily adjusted to bring the open end of the uppersection 48 into the zone where the heat is highest and to provide forrooms of different vertical height. The pipe can be easily removed fromthe base 18 by detaching the lower-most section from the flange 24 andthen collapsed so as to take up a minimum of space when not in use ormay be left in place and merely collapsed by pushing the sections intoeach other.

The motor M is driven from any convenient source, for example by a chord50 which may be plugged into a wall socket and control of the device isafforded by a thermostat 52 attached to the uppermost pipe section 48.The thermostat 52 operates at a predetermined temperature to start themotor M and at a lower temperature to stop the motor. The thermostat, ofcourse, may be adjusted so that it will initiate operation of the motorat any desired heat level and will maintain the circuit in operationuntil a predetermined lower temperature is reached thus retrieving theheat from the layer at the top of the room and recirculating it so as toobtain maximum uniformity of temperature throughout the room.

In order to direct the discharge at the floor level, vanes or deflectors54, 56 and 58 (FIGS. 2 and 4) are mounted adjacent the top and two sidesof the discharge opening 26 on hinges 55, 57 and 59 so that theirangular position relative to the stream of air from the opening 26 maybe adjusted to direct and distribute the stream at any level and in anydirection.

The device, as thus described, is not connected with the heating systemfor the particular room or space within which it is used and hence isnot dependent for its operation upon the heating system. Its primary useis as an adjunct to normal heating apparatus to recirculate hot airwhich rises to the top of the room by retrieving it from the top of theroom and discharging it at the bottom at floor level thus providing forgreater efl'iciency in use of the conventional heating equipment bypreventing the latter from being turned on more frequently thannecessary. The device may be used, for example, in garages or otherlarge spaces where it is difiicult to maintain uniformity of heatingbecause of the high ceilings and because a great deal of cold air isallowed to enter at floor level through doors and other openings whichare being constantly opened and closed. By constant-1y recirculating thehot air that rises to the top, the floors may be kept much warmer andthe frequency of starting the normal heating system will be greatlydecreased.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for equalizing the temperature in a heated space whereinthe heat tends to collect in a layer at the top, leaving the floorrelatively cold; comprising ing sections being adjustable both to theheightwise dimension of the space and to position the open upper endmost efl ectivel'y in the high temperature layer at the top of thespace, said pipe providing means through which the hot air at the top ofthe space is drawn downwardly into the unit and discharged through thedischarge port at the bottom close to the floor, said pump comprising arotor having a plurality of vertical, closely spaced vanes disposed andsupported equidistantly from a vertical axis for rotation about saidvertical axis in a direction and, by such rotation, to draw air into itsupper end and discharge it tangentially from its periphery, :a manifoldenclosing the rotor at the bottom and sides, said manifold having aninlet opening at the upper end of the rotor concentric with the axis ofthe rotor and with the intake port, and a discharge opening tangentialto its periphery and in registration with the discharge port, a motor,means connecting the motor to the rotor below the manifold, a

supporting Wall dividing the unit into upper and lower chambers, saidsupporting wall supporting the pump and manifold in the upper chamberand the motor in the lower chamber, and a thermostat situated on theupper section of the pipe adjacent the top operable, by a temperature ofpredetermined high level, to initiate operation of the motor and apredetermined lower level to terminate operation of the motor.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, comprising flat deflector plates andmeans secured to the unit adjacent the discharge port supporting thedeflector plates respectively, at the top and two sides of the dischargeport for rotation about horizontal and vertical axes to enable disposingthe deflector plate 'at the top at different elevations and thedeflector plates at the sides at different lateral positions.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,170,551 2/16Marty 9829 2,235,642 3/41 Lintern 982.3 2,315,636 4/43 McCollum 982.43,026,788 3/62 Spear 98115 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

1. AN APPARATUS FOR EQUALIZING THE TEMPERATURE IN A HEATED SPACE WHEREINTHE HEAT TENDS TO COLLECT IN A LAYER AT THE TOP, LEAVING THE FLOORRELATIVELY COLD; COMPRISING A PORTABLE UNIT ADAPTED TO BE PLACED ON THEFLOOR, SAID PORTABLE UNIT CONTAINING AN AIR PUMP, AND HAVING INTAKE ANDDISCHAGE PORTS, THE LATTER BEING NEAR THE FLOOR, A PIPE COMPRISING APLURALITY OF TELESCOPING SECTIONS, ONE OF WHICH IS CONNECTED AT ONE ENDTO THE INTAKE PORT AND THE OTHERS OF WHICH ARE EXTENDED UPWARDLYTHEREFROM, SAID TELESCOPING SECTIONS BEING ADJUSTABLE BOTH TO THEHEIGHTWISE DIMENSION OF THE SPACE AND TO POSITION THE OPEN UPPER ENDMOST EFFECTIVELY IN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE LAYER AT THE TOP OF THE SPACE,SAID PIPE PROVIDING MEANS THROUGH WHICH THE HOT AIR AT THE TOP OF THESPACE IS DRAWN DOWNWARDLY INTO THE UNIT AND DISCHARGED THROUGH THEDISCHARGE PORT AT THE BOTTOM CLOSE TO THE FLOOR, SAID PUMP COMPRISING AROTOR HAVING A PLURALITY OF VERTICAL, CLOSELY SPACED VANES DISPOSED ANDSUPPORTED EQUIDISTANTLY FROM A VERTICAL AXIS FOR ROTATION ABOUT SAIDVERTICAL AXIS IN A DIRECTION AND, BY SUCH ROTATION, TO DRAW AIR INTO ITSUPPER END AND DISCHARGE IT TANGENTIALLY FROM ITS PERIPHERY, A MANIFOLDENCLOSING THE ROTOR AT THE BOTTOM AND SIDES, SAID MANIFOLD HAVING ANINLET OPENING AT THE UPPR END OF THE ROTOR CONCENTRIC WITH THE AXIS OFTHE ROTOR AND WITH THE INTAKE PORT, AND A DISCHARGE OPENING TANGENTIALTO ITS PERIPHERY AND IN REGISTRATION WITH THE DISCHARGE PORT, A MOTOR,MEANS CONNECTING THE MOTOR TO THE ROTOR BELOW THE MANIFOLD, A SUPPORTINGWALL DIVIDING THE UNIT INTO UPPER AND LOWER CHAMBERS, SAID SUPPORTINGWALL SUPPORTING THE PUMP AND MANIFOLD IN THE UPPER CHAMBER AND THE MOTORIN THE LOWER CHAMBER, AND A THERMOSTAT SITUATED ON THE UPPER SECTION OFTHE PIPE ADJACENT THE TOP OPERABLE, BY A TEMPERATURE OF PREDETERMINEDHIGH LEVEL, TO INITIATE OPERATION OF THE MOTOR AND A PREDETERMINED LOWERLEVEL TO TERMINATE OPERATION OF THE MOTOR.